As Liverpool drew 1-1 with Sunderland, there were not that many positives to take for Arne Slot. His side didn't lose — which it has many times this season after going behind — but its attack didn't flow either.
The one player whose performance was really promising was Florian Wirtz, who forced the equalizer. The wait goes on for his first goal in the Premier League, but the German did well and showed his class.
Wirtz's shot deflected past Robin Roefs off Nordi Mukiele, who was credited with an own-goal. And the celebrations on the sideline, considering Slot has a reputation for being calm and serene, said plenty.
Liverpool was under pressure to get at least a point from the game, or it would have lost a 10th match in a 14-game spell. For big-money signing Wirtz to be involved, too, was important.
So far, he and Alexander Isak — the biggest signings of the summer — have not his the heights they are expected to eventually reach, but this was another important step in the right direction.
In the first half, Wirtz played as a number 10, before he was switched to the left flank after half-time to accommodate Mohamed Salah coming on for Cody Gakpo.
Liverpool head Arne Slot and attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz.
Liverpool head Arne Slot and attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz. (Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
"In my opinion, Cody struggled to dominate the one-v-ones," Slot said. "If you want to have any chance, they were pressing high but also in multiple situations they were in a low block.
"So the way to score is quite simple: you need a moment of magic from a player or you need a set-piece to score. I felt in the first half Cody struggled to find that moment because it was hard for him to dominate the one-v-one or get crosses in.
"In the first half we played with [Dominik] Szoboszlai off the right to be defensively strong enough not to concede enough as we did in the last few weeks. I changed it to Mo on the right side and then played with Florian Wirtz off the left.
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"Like I said, we hardly conceded, but it was throughout the whole game difficult to create that moment of magic.
"From the set-pieces we had, we were once close — I think it was Macca (Alexis Mac Allister) in the first half who hit the post from a set-piece — but we had enough, especially in the end of the second half, but didn't score."
If Liverpool's forward line is to start firing, Wirtz is likely to be central — figuratively, if not literally.
There remains a question mark about how Slot can fit in all the attacking talent at his disposal, but the level of talent available, on paper at least, is already clear.